A Little Bit of Audrey Belongs to KLM
Countless famous people have flown with KLM over the past 95 years. In the days of cinema newsreels, a special arrival at Schiphol was indispensable. It also made for a fine PR opportunity for KLM. It always looked especially wonderful when someone special descended the aircraft stairs, crossed the platform, and entered the terminal. We experienced just such an event with the arrival of actress Audrey Hepburn with her brand-new husband Mel Ferrer in 1954.
Excited masses
“Film star Audrey Hepburn flew to Schiphol from Brussels, the city of her birth, on 3 November 1954. Upon her arrival the airport transformed into a battlefield,” wrote the Wolkenridder, KLM’s staff newspaper, that day. “Admirers, journalists, and people from radio and television fought to get even a glance of doe-eyed Audrey, who seemed to disappear into the heaving tangle of the crowd. There was not a chance for a press conference. There was barely even a moment for a quick chat. Dozens of photographers undertook breakneck acrobatics just to get a picture of Audrey. With a sigh of relief, she managed to escape the excited masses and was given to Amsterdam’s Amstel Hotel.”
Audrey as a KLM stewardess
However, Audrey Hepburn once belonged to KLM, even if only for a moment. In 1948, at age 18, before making her breakthrough as an actress, she’d had a small role as a KLM stewardess in a film called, “Dutch in Seven Lessons”. And a year after her death, in 1994, KLM named a passenger aircraft —a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 registered as PH-KCE—after her.
About Ms. Hepburn
Originally, Ms. Hepburn wanted to be a ballerina, but her dance career never took off. After working as a model she began working regularly in films in 1951. A few have become true classics. Some of her better-known films include “Roman Holiday” (1953), “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961) and “My Fair Lady” (1964). Later on, she did more and more work for worthy causes. For many years until her death in 1993, she served as an ambassador for UNICEF.
Her mother was Dutch and, despite her international career, she spoke the language fluently. She had lived in Arnhem from 1935 until after the Second World War. It was very special for us that a film star of her fame could speak to the Dutch press in their own language. On 3 November 1954, however, very little of that could be heard. But that changed over the following days. Ms. Hepburn served as ambassador and spokesperson for the Association of Dutch Military War Victims and visited with numerous Dutch war veterans during the course of her visit.
She and Ferrer departed a few days later for Rome, again on a KLM aircraft, where they would celebrate their honeymoon. According to the Wolkenridder of 13 November 1954, she was sorry to go. She had seen so much.
Copyright Video’s: Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid.